Weasel?

[lilpenny]

We have a flock of 14 layers (2-4yrs old) who are suddenly down to 0-2 eggs daily. My first thought was molting (we live in CT), but in my 15+ yrs of owning a flock I've never seen such a drastic decrease in laying d/t molt. Their behavior also seems off, skittish and bunching in corners of the pen and hesitant to settle in to the coop at night.
Other:
* A couple eggs have had a peculiar round hole in one end, but no evidence of yolk and shells in their boxes which we usually see with cannibalism.
* the dog chased something away from the coop at dusk that was fast, long and light colored, my daughter didn't get a good look but said it was NOT raccoon or possum sized.
* we live in a rural area near a lake
* we have many burrows, rabbit holes etc under our various sheds and wood piles.
After reading up on weasels it is sounding like a fit (but a first for us) and I am beginning to get concerned -- if it has cleaned out our rodents and there are no more eggs...are the chickens next???
Appreciate advice from anyone who has dealt with this, ASAP! We are not squeamish about pest removal, just looking for effective methods to protect our hens. Roo is gone.
We have a have a heart trap but would like to know if these are effective and how to bait for best results.

 

[Rickba]

If it is a weasel the only way is to kill it. I bait my traps with sardines in oil. Nice and smelly. A weasel will kill your entire flock at once and stack 'em in the corner with the idea of coming back to feast later. They are diggers and climbers. This is one threat that needs to be nipped in the bud really fast before they get out of hand.